Where did it all go wrong for Scotland’s Garry O’Connor?

Garry O’Connor has failed to make the most of his talent (Picture: Getty Images)

In a week in which the joy of watching some new tartan heroes emerge as Scotland embraced the Commonwealth Games there was one story which made little headlines but nonetheless impacted enough to sadden some including myself.

The news that the former Hibernian and Lokomotiv Moscow and holder of 16 caps for the national team Garry O’Connor had signed for Lowland League club Selkirk was greeted with a shrug of the shoulders by many.

How depressing it is to see the general indifference felt about the fall from grace of one of the most talented footballer’s of his generation, someone who appears to have thrown away his God given gifts instead opting for a lifestyle blighted by off field misdemeanours

When he first burst onto the scene 14 years ago as a deadly assassin of a striker with a penchant of attempting the unthinkable, starred in Hibs team packed stuff of exciting young players such as Steven Whittaker, Scott Brown, Kevin Thomson and of course his mate– Derek Riordan another who has frittered away a promising career.

However like many young men who earn a life changing move to somewhere where the level of expectations have risen O’Connor found the pressure of living up to his reported £16k a week in the Russian League too much and after failing to settle down in Moscow. A return to the UK was on the cards when his Alex McLeish splashed out £2.7 million to lure him the big bustling striker to Birmingham City.

However the O’Connor’s four years in the Midlands were wasted due to a series of serious injuries and the last three years have been the wilderness years with him drifting into obscurity following disappointing spells with the Barnsley, a return to his stomping ground down Leith way where he was a pale shadow of the player he once was, the hilariously named Tom Tomsk back in Russia and Morton.

Now he can be found plying his trade in the obscure reaches of the Scottish borders in a town more famous for its rugby team at Selkirk, a truly damning indictment of someone who once had so much to offer but unfortunately in true Scottish parlance can be best described as just another ‘daft laddie’, a player with a real lack of commitment, desire and level headedness required for a life at the top end of the game.

Like some of his fellow teenage wonders who threw away a promising career due to the temptations of off field indiscretions and the failure to stave off some of the demons which haunted them such as troubled former Old Firm starlets Paul Slane and Charlie Miller it is likely 31-year-old O’Connor will likely look back with only regret.

A real shame indeed to see this former million pound internationalist go down the same road as some of his predecessors ending up on the footballing scrapheap, only occasionally making the headlines for acting the oaf away from the field of play rather than for finding the back of the net on it.